Magdeburg

Introduction

Magdeburg 2008 - River banks and cathedral

Magdeburg is a has-been industrial town. Has-been because while the heavy engineering tradition remains strong and is an important economic factor many of the factories have closed. Companies that used to employ thousands of people are nothing but bleak ruins. The job situation is relatively dire, many young well-educated people leave the city in search of a better future elsewhere. In the last 20 years since reunification Magdeburg has lost over 30,000 inhabitants, going down from 280,000 to a mere 250,000 people.

Having said that there is one spark of hope: Both the University of Magdeburg as well as the Hochschule Magdeburg, University of Applied Sciences bring a lot of vibrant student life into the city. The graduates of both institutions are an important factor in attracting investors and employers like to grab up students for part-time work. Keeping with tradtion Engineering and Mathematics is still strong at both institutions.

If you come to Magdeburg as an international tourist it will most likely be because you are a student at one of the universities, are visiting somebody who is a student there or because you are a cyclist riding along the Elbe river.

Most desirable areas to be in (in terms of renting a flat) are Mitte, Buckau, Sudenburg, Neustädter See and Herrenkrug. Herrenkrug especially is very popular with students because of the parks and the Campus of the University of Applied Sciences.

In terms of partying the best places are Mitte (especially the bars around Hasselbachplatz) and the clubs in Sudenburg and Buckau.

Least desirable areas are Nordwest, Olvenstedt and Reform. Lots of social welfare housing there and it can get iffy after dark.

Sights and Activities

Cathedral (Dom), Am Dom 1, 39104 Magdeburg‎

Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen, Monastery of Our Lady, Museum of Art (being the oldest surviving building in the city it ironically houses the city's extensive collection of modern art), Regierungsstraße 4, 39104 Magdeburg

Events and Festivals

Magdeburg - downtown Hundertwasserhaus 2007

Weather

Magdeburg is the driest city in all of Germany. Rainfall is relatively sparse. This is because the prevailing westerly winds that usually bring rain to this part of Europe hit the Harz mountains on their way to Magdeburg and leave their rain on the southwestern part of that mountain range. That said, it does rain in Magdeburg, so don't be surprised if you find yourself in need of an umbrella.

Getting There

By Plane

Magdeburg has a small local airport, but only very small private planes land there. If you are looking for regular passenger service or international airports fly into Berlin, Hannover or Halle-Leipzig and take the train.

By Train

Magdeburg is an important hub of transport. There are frequent services to Berlin, Brunswick, Halle, Leipzig and into the Harz mountains as well as long-distance trains to other destinations.

By Car

Magdeburg is located at the intersection of the A 2 and the A 14. It is about a 2 hours drive to Berlin.

By Bus

The companies BerlinLinienBus and Deutsche Touring as well as some Eastern European companies offer regular service to Berlin, some other German cities and international destinations.

By Boat

Some freighters and private yachts ply the Elbe river, but there is no regular passenger service.

By Bicycle

Magdeburg is an important stop on the Elbe Cycling Trail from Prague to Hamburg. Other cycling tourists stop in the city on their way from Amsterdam to Berlin. Consequently there are many cycling tourists hitting the city, especially in summer.

Getting Around

Magdeburg - downtown Hasselbachplatz 2007

By Car

Stretching up to 20 kms from north to south and 10 kilometers from east to west car is a viable option of getting around in Magdeburg. But since few visitors will ever need to travel from one end to the other there is no need to rent a car just to get around the city.

By Public Transport

Public transport is excellent in Magdeburg. The backbone of it is the excellent tram system, supplemented by buses and the S-Bahn train line from Schönebeck to Zielitz. You can get almost everywhere in Magdeburg by public transport. Between 6 am and 8 pm buses and trams run every 10 minutes between Mon-Fri and every 20 min during Saturdays. During the night and on holidays there are night lines operating every hour.

By Foot

If you stay in just one quarter of Magdeburg walking is a good idea, but try to cover more of the city and you'll soon find that you need other ways to get around.

By Bike

Bicycle is is probably the best way to see Magdeburg. The city is almost completely flat and an effort has been made in the last years to renew or establish bicycle pathways. Often you are faster than the tram or the bus with your bicycle, especially when you have to switch between bus and tram to get where you want to go.

By Boat

During summer there are regular cruises on the Elbe River operated by Weiße Flotte Magdeburg. Most popular is a visit to the Schiffshebewerk Rothensee and to the Wasserstraßenkreuz, which is essentially a canal bridge over the Elbe river. The same company also operates a small ferry from Buckau to the Rothehornpark, the island in the middle of the Elbe.

Eat

There are many restaurants in Magdeburg, so you won't be starving for lack of choice.

Budget:

- Bingöl Grill at Breiter Weg 231 (near Hasselbachplatz) and at other locations around the city. The place is legendary among lovers of Turkish food and Döner. Clean, with decent service, real silverware, porcellain plates and prices that rival big fast food chains. Open until late at night, so ideal if you need to grab something solid after a night of partying.

Mid-range

- Ratskeller, Alter Markt 1. Authentic German with moderate prices.

Tip: If you want good food and a relaxed atmosphere without worrying too much about the bill look into one of the all-you-can-eat brunches that are organised by the hotels Maritim, Raatswaage and InterCity Hotel. Especially recommended is the one at Ratswaage. It is held every Sunday from 11:30 to 14:30.

Upscale:

- La Bodega, Domplatz 10. Authentic Spanish food. Prices are reasonable for what is on offer.

Since Magdeburg is a university town, it is a heaven for couchsurfers. Supply far exceeds demand here, there are far more people offering couches than there are tourists coming into the city.

Also, you can contact the Magdeburg Tourist Information at Ernst-Reuter-Allee 14, 39104 Magdeburg, Tel 0391 19433. They have a long list of private rooms, pensions, guest houses and small hotels that they will happily reserve for you at no extra cost.

Work

The work situation is relatively dire in Magdeburg. It is difficult to find a job, especially without contacts. Biggest employers in the city are several heavy engineering companies such as Enercon, the city administration and a bunch of call centers. If you have a very good command of German you can try finding work as a call center agent, people who also know English, Russian or other European languages are in demand in some call centers. Teaching English is also an option, but to have a decent chance to make money on this you should try to get a contract with the Volkshochschule or place ads in the local newspaper offering to tutor German children and teens.

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafes (rates €1.50 to €5 per hour) are starting to become less common due to widespread offers of free wifi by shops, restaurants or cafes. Sometimes it requires minimum consumption but usually it's free within the premises. Phone shops will often offer internet access, too. In general hotels offer internet access. In several cities, projects exist to provide free "community" hotspots for wireless networking. Passenger lounges at some airports and central railway stations also provide internet access to their customers.

Several pre-paid SIMs allow Internet access for a monthly flat fee, for example those available at Tchibo coffee stores (o2 network, €10/month limited to 500 MB, €20/month for 5 GB) or Aldi (E-Plus network). A regular O2 sim card, which can be used for calls and text messages, is €15 and another €15 buys 1GB of data valid for 1 month. Vodafone offers a prepaid sim card for €25 which includes €22.5 of credit, out of which you can get 300 MB of data for 2 days for €15 and be left with €7.5 of credit.

Phone

The international call prefix in Germany is 00. To dial out of Germany, dial 00, followed by country code, area code, and the telephone number (for example 00 44 1234 567890). If you're using a mobile phone, simply add the plus sign "+" before the country code to call out of Germany (for example +44 1234 567890). The general emergency number is 112 and the additional number for less emergent issues for police is 110.

Mobile phone coverage on the four networks (T-Mobile, Vodafone, E-Plus and o2) is excellent across the whole country. UMTS (3G data and HSDPA) and EDGE is also available. UMTS is still somewhat limited to urban areas. All mobile providers use GSM technology on the 900 and 1800 MHz frequency ranges. If you stay for a longer period of time, consider buying a prepaid phone card from one of the mobile phone companies; you won't have trouble finding a T-Mobile (in a "T-Punkt"), Vodafone, E-Plus or O2 store in any major shopping area. In most supermarket chains (for example ALDI), there are prepaid SIM cards from their own virtual providers available. These are normally quite cheap to buy, but expensive for international calls (around €1–2/min), but incoming calls are always free and SMS cost around €0.09–0.19. They are available at: Aldi, Lidl, Penny, Netto, Tchibo, Rewe, toom. A registration via Internet or (expensive) phone call is necessary after buying to activate the SIM card.

The cheapest way to call abroad from Germany is to use the internet cafés run by immigrants. They sell special calling cards that give the best rate to certain countries as well as offer cheap international calls from phone booths. It is also the cheapest way to call landlines in Germany.

Post

Germany's postal system is very efficient, their logistics branch DHL is one of the best companies in this field world-wide, with domestic post or within a radius of 400 kilometres, send within a day. The website of Deutsche Post has an online calculator for postage fees as well as a post office finder. Stamps are available at post offices and sometimes at newsagents or shops selling postcards. Also stamp vending machines can be found at a lot of places around the cities. You can purchase every stamp you need from this machines. They are unique as they accept every coin from 1 cent to 2 euro but change is only given in stamps. It costs about €40 to send a small package to Australia and €1.70 to send an old-fashioned letter to any place in the world outside of Europe. Within Germany, sending postcards costs €0.45 and standard letters €0.55, within Europe it is €0.65 for a postcard, standard letters to places in Europe cost €0.75. Outside Europe, the prices for sending a postcard or standard letter are €1 and €1.70 respectively. Although you will find the old post offices (mainly in the city centre), most of the smaller neighbourhood post offices are part of a small tobacco shop or grocery store. For larger package, you might consider competitive private companies like UPS, DHL or TNT.